Earl Scruggs’ Banjo Heading to Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Earl Scruggs‘ Gibson RB-Granada Mastertone banjo will become part of the Precious Jewels display at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. The five-string banjo, the late Hall of Fame member’s primary instrument, has never been exhibited. It goes on display July 12. Scruggs acquired the instrument in a trade with banjo legend Don Reno in the late 1940s and used it on the 1949 recording of his signature composition “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” with Lester Flatt and the Foggy Mountain Boys. He continued to use the instrument on the road and in the studio with Flatt & Scruggs and the Earl Scruggs Revue. The Precious Jewels display, part of the museum’s Sing Me Back Home: A Journey Through Country Music exhibit, also features Mother Maybelle Carter‘s Gibson L-5 guitar, Lester Flatt’s Martin D-28 guitar, Bill Monroe‘s Gibson F-5 mandolin, Jimmie Rodgers‘ Martin 00-18 guitar and Hank Williams‘ Martin D-28 guitar.